


Night Moves

by TheLastWaltz



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Complete, Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 22:47:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20628794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLastWaltz/pseuds/TheLastWaltz
Summary: Shinji Ikari explores the Tokyo-3 nightlife.





	Night Moves

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Eva. All rights belong to Gainax/Khara.

Shinji walked along the sidewalk of the red-light district after midnight, the steady drizzle doing nothing to dissipate the usual crowd of pedestrians that populated this particular part of the city. The fourteen year old pilot wore his standard outfit of black slacks and a white button-down shirt. The only difference being the yellow rain slicker he wore over it, along with the black backpack that carried the majority of his earthly possessions. His cello was now in his meager apartment within the Geofront that housed NERV headquarters. Shinji had been evicted from Misato’s apartment, once they had taken in Rei, due to the growing bond forming between her and his other fellow pilot, Asuka.

He had been coming to this debauched few miles of territory at night for the past few months. Even he wasn’t sure why, but with Misato working nights, and Asuka barely speaking to him, he’d felt no good reason to hang around the apartment. So, while Asuka slept, he had taken to creeping out of his room’s solitary window. Luckily, there was a tree nearby, so he could descend the building easily. Idly, he wondered whether or not Section Two were following him as he wandered around, but if they were, it wasn’t much of a concern.

Neon lights flashed, and the air was full of noise. Loud music, horns honking, barkers calling out for customers to visit their peep shows, strip clubs, and porn theaters. Drunken guests bumped into Shinji as he walked, causing one of them to stumble and land on his side. He got to his feet, wobbling as he rose, and cursed the Evangelion pilot. Shinji paid him no heed as he continued to aimlessly proceed forward. Flashily-dressed pimps shouted at their girls, one of them staggering backward as a pimp’s hand caught the girl across the jaw. The meaty slap reached Shinji’s ears and he turned to look at the source of the sound. The pimp found Shinji’s gaze, and the hustler reached into his pocket and pulled out a switchblade, flicking it open with a twitch of his wrist.

“Keep walkin’, ya little shit...” he growled, to which Shinji quickly lowered his head and stepped onwards. The rain began to intensify and Shinji started moving faster, taking shelter under the broken marquee of a closed theater. He noticed that the heavy grate that barred the door was bent open under one corner. He faintly heard a rhythmic thudding coming from within the theater. Shinji crawled under the broken gate and pushed lightly against the door, which swung open. He stepped inside the lobby, the thudding turning out to be music from a secret rave being held inside the old building. The former concessions counter was now a makeshift bar, where there were plenty of people milling about, dressed in various outfits, but mostly in black. He lowered the hood on his raincoat and entered the theater proper. Immediately he was surrounded by bodies, sweating, grinding and dancing to the music. The room was hot, noisy, and packed with wall to wall people. Shinji was slammed into by person after person in the dark room. The only lights were the ones on stage, illuminating the DJ as they spun track upon track of heavy synth music. As Shinji’s eyes slowly adjusted to the lights, he could see other bodies, pressed up against the walls. He didn’t have to hear their moans to figure out what they were doing. In the dim light, occasionally splashed with red, green, blue, and orange; Shinji thought the expressions on their faces made them look demons out of a Goya painting.

Deciding to take a breath, Shinji exited the dance floor and returned to the lobby. He bent forward with his hands on his knees, taking deep breaths of cool air. It was too hot and claustrophobic in there for him. Just the few minutes he had spent in there had made him sweat enough to make his clothes stick to him. Although the raincoat he had on wasn’t helping either. Someone he didn’t know came up to him from behind and pulled him into a brief one-armed hug, palming him a small pack of pills, and calling them ‘party favors’ before returning to his group of friends. Shinji blinked at the pills, then shoved them in his pocket, figuring that he would dispose of them later as he himself had no interest in drugs. Looking around, he decided to ascend the long, curving staircase and explore the upper floor. The top floor was no less noisy, but the atmosphere was substantially different. He wouldn’t call it discreet, as the balconies’ curtains were all open, but it seemed far more somber. As if he’d stepped into a different part of not only the party, but the world as a whole. His mind screamed at him to turn around, and for a moment, his feet were cemented to the floor. Every part of his instinct and judgment told him to stop, but somewhere inside him, somewhere dark compelled him onward.

Shinji stepped forward, walking along the curved corridor, his face reddened as he walked past the various groups in each balcony, fornicating and fucking as they desired, with no shame or restraint. As he walked, he came to an open door marked ‘Employees Only’. Past that door was another staircase leading upwards. Shinji’s bizarre curiosity not yet sated, he proceeded up the creaky wooden stair to the final door. He heard voices beyond and pushed the door open slowly. On the floor was a young woman of about 19 years old, her eyes glazed over, clearly drugged beyond the ability to respond and covered in semen. Surrounding her were six young men who were zipping up their pants. One of them turned to Shinji and cocked his thumb at the girl.

“You want a piece?” he asked nonchalantly. Shinji’s gut lurched and he turned around, running for the door. He just about flew down the stairs and dashed through the main body of the theater, his heart beating against his ribs as he was once again pounded between the dancing bodies as he raced for the emergency exit, bashing the steel door open and out into the alley. He continued to run until his legs and lungs gave out, dropping like a stone in an abandoned industrial park. Eventually, he rose to his feet and lurched towards a multi-story warehouse. He entered the warehouse and climbed up the stairs to the second floor, looking out through a ruined section of wall at the abandoned park. Shinji was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear the person near him until he shouted at him.

“Hey!” the man called out, startling Shinji and causing him to whip around to see the man lying on a dirty mattress a few feet from him.

“Y-yes?” Shinji replied, his voice unsteady as he looked back at the man, who wore only a ruined t-shirt and filthy jeans.

“Don’t be scared. I’m not going to hurt you. I just need your help for a few minutes.” the man answered calmly. Shinji edged closer slowly.

“What kind of help?” Shinji asked cautiously, to which the man simply smiled.

“The only favor I’ll ever ask of you….” he replied cryptically before explaining in detail. “I have AIDS, young man. I’m also homeless, and I have pneumonia.” he began. “I don’t want to die coughing and gasping, and I don’t want to die in some sterile hospital bed, counting down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds. I want to die with one last rush in my veins...can you help me?” he finished, his eyes boring deep into Shinji’s. Shinji looked back, then looked away.

“I-I don’t want to kill anyone. I don’t want to hurt anyone, or murder anyone...” The man reached out and gently grasped Shinji’s hand.

“It’s not murder if it’s mercy. You wouldn’t be causing me suffering, you’d be ending it.” he replied. Shinji looked back at the man, and something inside him faded.

“I’ve never injected anything into anyone before. I don’t know how to do this...” The man smiled, revealing a row of yellowed teeth as his brown eyes shone.

“I’ll prepare the dose. You just need to inject it. I would do this myself, but the pneumonia has left me pretty weak...” he apologized, as his hands shook just holding the spoon over his lighter. Once the heroin was cooked, he loaded the needle and handed it to Shinji. “My name is Jiro. What’s your name, young man?” he asked.

“Shinji. Ikari Shinji.” he replied. Once Shinji had a firm grip on the needle, the man began unbuttoning his jeans and pushing them down. Shinji rapidly backed away.  
“What the hell?!” Shinji shouted, now holding the needle defensively. The man sighed and ran his fingers through his own hair.

“Sorry, sorry. I should have told you. The veins in my arms have collapsed, so I can’t use those anymore. I promise, I don’t mean any harm.” Warily, Shinji stepped forward, still holding the needle defensively. The man reached to his left and took a strip of rubber, tying it around the upper portion of his thigh, causing a large vein to bulge. As Shinji approached, he nearly gagged from the stench of the man’s unwashed body. “Push the needle in slowly, at an angle, all the way in...” Shinji bit his lip in fear, then nodded, doing as he was instructed. The man grunted slightly. “Now, push the plunger down a bit...then back up.” Shinji nodded, watching as the man’s blood mixed with the heroin. “Now, push the plunger all the way down.” Shinji complied before the man untied the rubber strip, leaning back with an ecstatic groan. Shinji pulled the needle out and stabbed it into the dirty mattress, cleaning the man’s infected blood from it. Jiro reached out and squeezed Shinji’s free hand. “Thank you, Shinji...” he drawled out, now lost in his drug-induced haze. Shinji sat by his side, watching as the man’s chest rose and fell, until it stopped and the light left his eyes. Jiro’s grip faded, and Shinji gently placed Jiro’s hand back on his chest, then did the same with his other hand.

Shinji picked up the needle by the plunger and walked slowly out of the warehouse, passing by a group of bums around a trashcan fire. Shinji stood with them a moment, his gaze caught by the fire, almost hypnotized by it before he dumped the syringe into the burning pit, followed by the ‘party favors’ foisted on him at the rave. He then turned away and walked on further along the highway to the overlook Misato had taken him to when he had defeated Sachiel, the Third Angel. He stood and looked over the city, now at night, the rains finally dissipating and revealing a clear night sky. His stomach and his soul both writhed in agony, tears welled up in his eyes and finally, all he could do was scream.

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings, readers. I'm currently migrating my works from FF.net. All future chapters of my longer work, Interregnum will be published here, rather than there. I'm hoping you all like my writings, and will offer constructive criticism where you feel it necessary. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, TheLastWaltz.


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